East Durham hairdressing students aim to keep their winners crown

Staff and students are gearing up to defend their Best College award at a regional hairdressing competition.

The Association of Hairdressers and Therapists North East competition will take place at the Federation Brewery, Gateshead, this Monday.

The team from the Peterlee-based East Durham College (EDC) are preparing to defend their crown of the Best North East College, a title they have held for the last three years.

There will be 86 students from EDC taking part in the competition, and the college aims to pick up individual medals in a number of different categories.

The students have been busy preparing for their individual competitions throughout January, with students set to compete in areas such as bridal, face and body painting and ladies’ evening style.

The regional winners will then go on to compete at the national finals held at Blackpool’s famous Winter Gardens in March.

Angela Johnston, hairdressing lecturer at East Durham College, said: “This is a huge competition and the students have been working very hard on their entries for the competition since returning from the Christmas break.

“Competitions like this are a fantastic environment for our students to go out and show off the skills they have learned in their courses during their time at East Durham College.

“Of course we would love to repeat the success we have had at this competition with previous students, but the main point is that we find it beneficial for our students to be able to go out and match their skills to other students from across the region, it can be a big confidence boost and any awards will look great on a job application.”